Slumber
by Amelia From A Fairy Tale
Summary: Dick is a brand-new, tiny Robin who is very tired and can't find Bruce anywhere to bring him home.


I don't own Batman or any affiliated characters.

No additional notes here; just know that this has also been cross-posted on my tumblr and ao3 account. If the formatting shows up oddly, it's because I'm posting this from my iPad.

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Based on a headcanon from incogneat-oh:

One day, when Dick was a very tiny, new Robin, he was at the JLA HQ and he couldn't find Bruce anywhere. He was really tired and wanted a nap, so he tucked himself in to Superman's side and dozed off, where Batman found him later.

Bruce was stupidly jealous over this for years.

(What he doesn't know is that Dick only picked Superman because he's the closest to Bruce in body-type, and had a cape Dick could hide under and pretend it was him.)

* * *

Now that the initial wonder from seeing the JLA HQ ___in person_ for the very first time has worn off, Dick realizes that he's actually kind of tired. He turns around, expecting Bruce to be right behind him as he usually is, but instead finds that he's all alone in the white corridor. It's eerily quiet, and the brand-new vigilante wonders how it's even possible that he ___didn't _notice that Bruce wasn't behind him. The man would be very disappointed in his partner if he found out that little fact, Dick's sure.

He gulps, walking down the hallway and peering into every unlocked room he passes. All the rooms are empty, and the silence seems to magnify his small footsteps. They echo off the empty white walls, and sometimes he thinks that someone is behind him because of them. He eventually finds his way out of that particular wing of the HQ and into another one; though this one actually has people in it.

He passes hero after hero, and he tries not to let on that he actually knows most of their identities when he asks if they've by any chance seen Batman. They all smile in a way that causes him duck his head and blush, making his already rosy cheeks redden even more, apologizing because no, they haven't seen Batman, but maybe Wonder Woman, or Flash, or J'onn, or Superman has? He nods and thanks them all for their time, but he's really ___tired_and he wants to go back to the manor and go to sleep! Dick yawns, checking his watch. It's only a half an hour until midnight! Thank goodness tomorrow's Saturday and he doesn't have school, but ___still_. He's exhausted, and all this walking around isn't helping ___at all_.

He eventually manages to pin down Flash for long enough to ask him if he's seen Bruce.

"Bats? Nah, I just got here, haven't seen him yet. Sorry kid, gottagoI'mlateforameeting!" He dashes off before Dick can anything say in response, and the boy sighs. Oh well, maybe Uncle J'onn can help him.

Unfortunately, after asking around, he finds that the alien is currently in Paris for some reason or another, and isn't expected back for another day or two. Great. He rubs his eyes, lip trembling a bit as his fatigue begins to mess with his emotions and make him moody.

"Richard?" A warm, kind voice asks, and he whirls around to find Aunt Diana approaching. "What's wrong, sweetheart?" She crouches down before him, placing one hand on his shoulder and using the other to brush his hair out of his face. He pouts.

"I can't find Batman anywhere and no one will help me look for him and I'm ___tired!_" The words come out in a rush, and blushes when he realizes how whiny he sounds. "Do ___you_know where he is, Aunt Diana?" She pulls him into a hug and he doesn't resist; Aunt Diana's hugs are special. They make him feel warm and happy inside, and if he closes his eyes, he can kind of imagine that he has his mommy back.

"Now, I haven't seen him," she says when she pulls out of the hug, "but I bet Clark can tell you where he is. Go check in the lounge area, that's where I last saw him. Do you know how to get there?" Dick nods; after wandering over what feels like every inch of this building, he's pretty sure he knows the way to the lounge. And Aunt Diana's so smart! He should've just gone straight to Uncle Clark. His superhearing or x-ray vision probably could have helped him find Bruce right away!

"Thank you, Aunt Diana!" he says, flashing a bright smile at her as he scurries off. She smiles fondly at him as he leaves.

'___I think I turn right…here!'_ Dick thinks as he maneuvers through the winding hallways of the HQ. If the League was aiming to making their floor pattern as confusing as possible to disorient potential intruders, then they did well. Even with all of Batman's training, Dick is still more than a little unsure of where exactly he is right now. Luckily, as he turns a corner he finds himself in the lounge. Superman is indeed in there, sitting on one of the many large, overstuffed couches as he flips through what looks like some reports. For once, no one else is in the room; they're probably all in bed like smart people.

"Uncle Clark?" he asks hesitantly, and the muscular man looks up from his papers. He offers a friendly grin when he sees who spoke.

"Dick! Come here," he says, patting the seat next to him. Dick obliges, curling his feet up and resting his head on his knees. "What do you need?" the Kryptonian asks.

"I can't find Batman ___anywhere_," Dick bemoans, "but Aunt Diana said you could help me find him." Clark grins as Dick yawns.

"Sorry, champ. He went out to help Canary with something real quick. Should be back soon, though; why don't you stay and wait with me?" Dick sighs, pouting a bit because Bruce didn't even let him know before he left.

"Okay…" he drags the word out, but doesn't hesitate in curling up in a tight ball against Clark's side and wrapping the man's cape around him. If he ignores the color scheme, he can almost pretend he's sitting next to Bruce. Dick fights to stay awake, reading what he can of the reports, but he slowly doses off, lulled to sleep by the Kryptonian's warm body and the comfort he provides him.

Clark smiles down at the dark head of hair as he feels the boy's body relax bit by bit as he falls asleep. Next to his own larger-than-average body, Dick's smaller-than-average body is absolutely dwarfed. Sometimes, Clark wonders how Bruce ever managed to pick up such a___cute_ sidekick (he knows everyone was expecting a mini-Batman when they found out about Robin). He pulls his cape a little further around the boy, then brushes a stray lock of hair out of his face and wipes away some drool.

Clark finishes reading the reports quickly enough, but doesn't want to move for fear of waking Dick. Instead, he sits back, and soon dozes off himself. They aren't like that for long, a half an hour to forty-five minutes tops, when Batman and Black Canary finally return, a little more bedraggled than when they left.

Canary immediately heads off to the showers, eager to get the grime off her body before she sleeps. Bruce, meanwhile, enters the lounge where he can see the top of Clark's head over the top of the couch. He'll be able to hear Dick's heartbeat and tell him where the boy is.

Clark wakes up as soon as Bruce steps in the room, carefully twists around a bit and motioning for Bruce to stay quiet. The Dark Knight approaches almost silently, and Clark thinks the man's face softens a bit when he sees Dick cocooned in his cape. His jaw clenches and his lips tighten not a moment later, though, as a sudden surge of jealousy rises in his chest. He knows that Dick is practically his son, but he hates the mere idea that the boy might possibly idolize another man more than him. It's ridiculous, but somehow, Bruce just can't bring himself to care.

Instead, the man carefully scoops the boy up into his arms. Dick, of course, wakes up, groggy from falling so deeply asleep so quickly, then being woken up just as suddenly.

"Bruce?" he mumbles into the crook of his mentor's neck, yawning a bit.

"Shhh, Dick, go back to sleep," Bruce says, awkwardly patting the boy's head. Dick doesn't need to be told twice, and is breathing deep and easy a moment later. Clark smiles softly at the image of mentor and protégé. Bruce nods curtly at Clark, then walks out to the garage where his Batmobile rests. He gently rests the boy in the back seat, buckling him in, then proceeds to drive as smoothly as possible all the way back to Gotham so as not to wake him again.

He remains ridiculously jealous over the incident for ___years_ afterwards.

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A/N: I haven't been able to write much lately due to stress from school and applying to colleges (Salisbury? UMBC? DeSales? Anybody?), but I'm still getting a few things out here and there. I've currently got a DickBabs in the works where the lovely couple gives birth to a beautiful baby boy and Damian gets all jealous, but it's nowhere near done.


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